21st Century Horror: Southeast Asia (tapekebab's Top 10)
Disclaimer: This is just my personal Top 10, not necessarily the best films from this region. I also include horror and horror-related titles, so if you see any movies on the list that you don’t think are technically horror movies, let’s not argue about it.
If you have any recommendations for movies from this region, please let me know in the comments!
For this list, I considered films from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Thailand has its own Top 10 list - check out my other lists.
There are also a few Burmese and Hmong horrors floating around out there, but I can't find them with English subtitles. Anyone got a line on those?
If you have any recommendations for movies from this region, please let me know in the comments!
For this list, I considered films from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Thailand has its own Top 10 list - check out my other lists.
There are also a few Burmese and Hmong horrors floating around out there, but I can't find them with English subtitles. Anyone got a line on those?
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- DirectorTimo TjahjantoStarsChelsea IslanPevita PearceRay SahetapyWhen her estranged father falls into a mysterious coma, a young woman seeks answers at his old villa, where she and her stepsister uncover dark truths.(Timo Tjahjanto, 2018, Indonesia) - 7/10
I've seen some reviews complaining about the "deal with the devil" plot, but if that's not your thing, maybe find a different genre. This is a balls-to-the-wall carnival of demonic violence (a lady rips her own face off with her bare hands, holy fuck) and it's damn scary. - DirectorJason Paul LaxamanaStarsJoseph MarcoSofia AndresKiko EstradaIt tells the story of a group of pranksters who scares a homeless girl and accidentally injuring her. One by one, they start encountering a shadow whose glare causes them to fall severely ill and die.(Jason Paul Laxamana, 2017, Philippines) - 7/10
Some genuinely scary moments, a few unintentionally hilarious moments, some elements of Filipino folklore, and a few gallons of bloody vomit - this Tagalog-language curse story is pretty goofy at times, but I got a real kick out of it. - DirectorKhavnStarsTimothy CastilloMarife NecesitoJim Rocky TangcoTony knows nothing but tough times, living in the bleak circus of the slums he calls home amongst denizens of the underworld: the crippled pimp, the lonely housewife, the neighborhood gay and his macho father, the prostitutes, the small-time politician, and the Yankee pedophile. This is his story and the story of the world he lives in: a hopeless, closed-in decrepit world gone to seed.(Khavn, 2010, Philippines) - 7/10
Blasts off like some unholy hip-hop combo of "Kids," "City of God," early John Waters, and "Jackass" and then veers into true mondo horror territory with some jarringly fucked up depictions of life for Manila's gutter class. Real punk rock guerrilla filmmaking at its best. - DirectorMattie DoStarsAmphaiphun PhommapunyaVilouna PhetmanyTambet TuiskA village girl travels to the Lao capital, Vientiane, to care for her rich cousin who has lost her sight and gained the ability to communicate with the dead.(Mattie Do, 2012, Laos) - 6/10
Only the thirteenth film ever made in Laos and the second film from Laos's first female director, this is more of a drama about class and gender relations that happens to have ghosts in it than a full-fledged horror. Nevertheless, it gets pretty haunting by the end. - DirectorDerek NguyenStarsNhung KateJean-Michel RichaudKim XuanWhen an orphaned Vietnamese girl is hired to be a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation in 1953 French Indochina, she unexpectedly falls in love with the French landowner and awakens the vengeful ghost of his dead wife... who is out for blood.(Derek Nguyen, 2016, Vietnam) - 6/10
This Vietnamese film looks splendid - the faded opulence of a French estate calls to mind many classic British Gothic pieces, as does the age-old story of a love affair across class divisions - but just before the Vietnam War, such an affair is fraught with ghostly terror. - DirectorSyamsul YusofStarsSyamsul YusofNabila HudaSabrina AliAdam is a Muslim medical practitioner who is unable to accept the fact that his wife is no longer in this world. Later on, he agrees to treat a depressed woman named Maria but strange and unsettling things start to happen.(Syamsul Yusof, 2016, Malaysia) - 6/10
It's interesting how horror films from conservative Muslim countries are often moralistic parables - this Malay film warns against false piety and "holier than thou"-ism (just about every other sentence is "Allahu akbar"). It's a pretty neat take on demonic possession. - DirectorYee-Wei ChaiStarsPei-Pei ChengDavid LeongJoey LeongSeven days afters he was sold out by his boss and murdred by the crime syndicate he was pursuing, policeman Shun possesses his yoinger sister body to exact vengeance on those who killed him.(Yee-Wei Chai, 2009, Singapore) - 6/10
Based on its premise (a murdered cop wakes up in his little sister's body "Freaky Friday"-style), I was expecting this Mandarin-language crime thriller/supernatural horror from Singapore to be pretty campy, but it's actually very well-done and quite disturbing. - DirectorHeng TolaStarsChan NaryPrak SambathHuy YalengA group of young developers hope to renovate an old house, only to find that it was formerly home to a traditional Thai dancing school, and the spirits of the dancers have yet to leave.(Heng Tola, 2005, Cambodia) - 6/10
I actually found this under the title "House of Haunted," which I love. I expected this Cambodian ghost story to be pretty corny, but it was actually a very pleasingly meditative film, and the sets are entrancing - everything is tinged in dreamy blue, green, and gold. - DirectorShuhaimi BabaStarsMaya KarinAzri IskandarRosyam NorA restless female ghost wants to avenge her death.(Shuhaimi Baba, 2004, Malaysia) - 6/10
It's hard to judge this one simply because it's so different from Western horror. It looks more like a 60's musical fantasy than a 00's horror flick, but as an example of Malay folklore, it was an entertaining way to shake up my Western sensibilities. - DirectorYam LaranasStarsCarmina VillaroelRhian RamosTJ TrinidadA 12 year old cold case is reopened when three teens are missing in an old abandoned road where a gruesome murder is left undiscovered for three decades.(Yam Laranas, 2011, Philippines) - 6/10
More an anthology of misery than a single cohesive horror story, but this dark Pinoy slow-burner has some terrifically terrifying moments. Its only weakness is that the burn is a bit too slow. It may have worked better as an actual anthology instead of a frame narrative.
